In bottles of this type (of the International class B65D 1/02 according to the International Classification), the opening defined in the upper face of the neck must be sufficiently narrow for precisely pouring the liquid contained in the bottle and limiting risk of contamination. Other containers having a large opening such as cups, cylindrical recipients and containers having a general U or V-shape in cross-section are not adapted for such a purpose. Furthermore, risks of breakage at the opening during transport are higher with containers provided with apertures as wide as the body of the container. The invention does not relate to that category of containers but rather concerns containers with restricted apertures, which are typically sold with a flowable product inside and having a removable lid for sealing the aperture.
In order to obtain pouring convenience for the user, even when pouring the liquid into a cup of small capacity (typically less than 300 mL), the largest dimension of the narrow opening is generally inferior to 40 mm and typically inferior to 30 mm. Accordingly, a narrow opening means in the present specification an opening having its largest dimension inferior to 40 mm. Such a narrow opening is especially well adapted for direct drinking or for pouring the content of the bottle in a water cup having a maximum diameter inferior to 80 mm.
Bottles of this type also have to satisfy various constraints associated with their transport while having to be as light as possible in order to reduce costs associated with the quantity of plastic material used or with its transportation, and to reduce the impact on the environment. The food industry in particular has to propose packagings inexpensive and which generate as less as possible wastes.
Document EP 0 761 560 A1 discloses a glass or plastic receptacle whose neck is closed by a rectangular capsule and comprises an outer thread allowing use of a screw cap. The rectangular capsule comprises a closing portion heat sealed onto a ring defined at the top of the neck and having a disk-like shape. In the respective corners of the rectangular capsule, two tips are folded along the neck and fixed by heat sealing, while two other tips extend in the same plane as the closing portion and may be used to remove the capsule. Receptacles such a those disclosed in EP 0 761 560 A1 are provided with a sleeve label arranged around the body of the receptacle to display information about the content to the user.
Such receptacles still contain a significant amount of plastic material. A need thus still exists for developing liquid filled bottles with less plastic material and/or optimizing the use of plastic material in such sealed receptacles, and/or simplifying manufacturing processes.